Recent Events
Family Fun Festival 2023
The beautiful South Lawn played host to the Family Fun Festival last September. Whilst in previous years this event was traditionally held at the end of the Summer Term, hosting the Festival at the start of the school year enabled us to welcome all the NOVI parents and children, and start the new academic year by bringing our wonderful community together.
There were inflatables galore and as you can imagine, toddlers to grandpas were having a riot and challenging each other in the zorbs and human football table. As ever, the Nerf Blaster Arena proved a hit and a number of teachers were seen possibly taking revenge on more troublesome students!! The atmosphere was brilliant and the sights and sounds of everyone enjoying themselves together really showcased the community.
Many thanks to the wonderful support of our local suppliers: guests were able to feast on fabulous pizza, burgers, cookies, ice creams, coffee and cocktails!
Fireworks Night 2023
November was full of “oohs” and “aahs”, a much darker and colder South Lawn played host to a fantastic Fireworks Night. We had an amazing whizz-bang display, coupled with super food and warming mulled wine, and plenty of reusable glow sticks, which the children loved!
It was great to see the excitement and wonder of so many families, past and present, who joined us for the evening.
Summer Ball 2023
There was much excitement for the Summer Ball, the first in four years, and it did not disappoint.
A hardworking committee of dedicated parents organised the black-tie event, using incredible local suppliers. On a warm summer evening in June, guests arrived looking fabulous, ready for an al fresco champagne and canapé reception, serenaded by a live saxophonist, enjoying the stunning views from the South Lawn and the beautiful twinkly floral adorned marquee. Invited to take their seats, a delicious three course meal was served, raffle tickets sold and live and silent auctions took place, before guests danced the night away and had fun in the photo mirror. An evening of magical merriment, thoroughly enjoyed by all!
A HUGE thank you for all the raffle and auction donations to help support Friends of Holmewood and NOVA, your generosity really is appreciated. A final thank you to the school, suppliers and volunteers who helped bring the evening to life, and to the core committee Sophie, Alicia and Georgina.
Easter Activities 2023
This year the Easter bunny came and caused much hilarious chaos amongst the children, bringing with her an imposter, and water guns! The children witnessed the battle of the Holmewood Easter Bunnies when one faux and one true Easter Bunny arrived to much excitement. The faux bunny ran riot through the Mansion House, and rallied by the support of the excitable children, the Easter Bunny, undeterred by the water gun tactics of the imposter, came out on top and chased the pretender off her turf! Battle won, calm restored, the Easter trails commenced on the South Lawn. Meanwhile, down in Pre-Prep, a myriad of activities were underway, and the Easter Bunny was made most welcome. Special requests for international egg deliveries over the holidays were received, beautiful Easter drawings will be treasured forever, and the Easter Bunny may well be back for some more of those delicious Maths Mocktails.
Christmas Pop-Up and Christmas Cards & Gifts 2022
In place of the Christmas Fair, an intimate festive shopping experience was set up in the school café, to Shop Small, Support Local. Proudly, many of the local businesses are owned by Holmewood families. The café had delicious Christmas themed treats, and guests had the opportunity to purchase gifts such as jewellery, clothing, sustainable handbags and water bottles, children’s toys, handmade luxury chocolates, Lego style key rings and much more. Friends hosted their own fabulous Christmas fashion accessories stand which proved a hit with the keen shoppers.
Christmas Cards & Gifts
Each year the children are invited to create Christmas designs, which are used to produce cards, tags, wrapping paper, mugs and tea towels. This is always such a lovely activity to allow the children to create wonderful items that their families and friends can enjoy and keep as mementos. This project was once again run by Charmaine Crossley; Charmaine has handed over the reins for the coming year – it takes a huge amount of work, thank you very, very much for all your support over the years.
Back to School Quiz 2022
The Back to School Quiz bore witness to some fantastic costumes, creative team names, and healthy competition between tables, including the teachers! Expertly hosted by Chelsea and Nick, our quizzers enjoyed a proper school dinner from our very own Stef Parnell, served by our Year 8 team of Aurora, Layla, Tallulah and Sofia under the guidance of Nichola Napleton. Alongside more traditional rounds, our teams were treated to some interesting recorder performances, not to mention the round of charades…! Congratulations to the winning team Artificial Intelligence, (who scooped a haul of incredible prizes worth over £500) and to the Whizz Kids, for scooping the ultimate prize of a wooden spoon.
Holmewood Honey
John Preston is our beekeeper and gives the children (Year 4 upwards) an opportunity to spend time at the Apiary and learn about beekeeping. Mr Preston took his bees to Reception, as part of their minibeasts topic, where the children were able to examine the beehive, listen to the noise the bees make and smell the honey. His bees are very productive – Holmewood House Honey and candles were incredibly popular at the school Christmas Fair!
Pond Project
It has been a joy to see the pond come into its own this year, being used by multiple teachers from various perspectives, across all the ages. The pond undertook major renovation in 2021 with funds from Friends of Holmewood, and we look forward to seeing it mature and continue to develop, with many ideas and plans to come over the year ahead.
